


Goodnight Dragons

by WordsmithMusings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dragons, F/M, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, Post-Canon, Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 20:19:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18724261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsmithMusings/pseuds/WordsmithMusings
Summary: A fluffy one-shot about our favorite Dragon Tamer, Charlie Weasley, his favorite book, Goodnight Dragons, and the path and people that led him to become a Dragonologist.





	Goodnight Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot was inspired by one of my children's favorite bedtime books. Goodnight Dragons by Judith Roth. Obviously, this book was not available when Charlie was a toddler, so in that way, it's a big liberty, but everything else is as Canon compliant as I can make it. There's not a lot of information on Molly Weasley's family so I thought it would be a nice little back story for the tight-knit family group. 
> 
> Goodnight Dragons and all Harry Potter characters all belong to their respective authors and publishing houses. The plot, however small, is all mine. It's JKR's world, and I just continue to play and world-build within its boundaries.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.  
> The Wordsmith

When Charlie Weasley was just two years old, he came down with a horrible case of the chicken pox and then the flu, which became quite severe. His mother, Molly Weasley Nee Prewett, being heavily pregnant with his brother Percy, was unable to care for Charlie, and chase his 4-year-old brother Bill simultaneously. Her brothers, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, were quick to step in to help, having a deep love for their sister and her family. Fabian and his mother Lydia attended to Molly, young Bill, and their home while her husband Arthur was at work at the Ministry of Magic; Gideon, on the other hand, spent most of his time with his young nephew, Charlie. It was during this time that Charlie was first properly introduced to dragons, which happened to be Gideon’s favorite magical creature. 

At Charlie’s birth, his Uncle Gideon had given him a small stuffed Dragon, a Common Welsh Green, who he called Wubby, while his Uncle Fabian had given him a blanket covered with quidditch brooms, racing to and fro, invisible seekers trying to find the golden snitch that came and went along its soft green fleece. During his illness, Charlie could be found clinging to both, his small body often tucked against his Uncle’s chest, a series of fairytales, bedtime stories and books on Dragons on the nightstand next to them. Gideon read every single story, repeatedly, to his young charge, his voice never wavering, even when exhaustion swept the poor boy into a feverish sleep. Gideon's reading only slowed when fatigue or hunger took over. In those instances, Fabian or Arthur and even Grandpa Prewett could be found reading or whispering to the young lad, confined to his bed and isolated from the rest of his family. 

It was during this time that Charlie’s genuine love of Dragons was born. All thanks to a simple bedtime book called Goodnight Dragons*. It wasn’t long before each of them had the book entirely memorized, and they would smile at Charlie after his recovery when he would tell them, “I am called to tame dragons. My heart tells me so.” Only his Uncle Gideon realized that Charlie was entirely serious, and for his 7th birthday, surprised him with a trip to Romania to visit the Dragon Sanctuary there. It was a defining moment for the young boy, and his father would later admit that he knew from the moment that Charlie and Gideon returned that Charlie would become a Dragonologist – much to his mother’s dismay.

Two years later, Gideon and Fabian were killed during the first wizarding war while working for the Order of the Phoenix. It would take five death eaters to bring the two incredible men to their death, and their loss especially affected Molly and young Charlie, who was just shy of his 10th birthday at the time. At their funerals, Charlie displayed an incredible feat of wandless magic - duplicating both his Wubby and his blankie before silently placing them on the caskets of his uncles. Every ministry official present turned a blind eye to his use of underage magic, claiming that it was merely a moment of accidental magic bought on by the deep traumatic loss of his uncles when asked; the tear-stained face of the young redhead forever blazed into their memories. 

Over two decades later, both his Wubby and his blankie, sat in a place of honor high atop a bookshelf dedicated to dragons in Charlie’s home at the Romanian Dragon sanctuary that his Uncle had brought him to all those years ago. Intermingled with the books on breeds, training, healing, care, legends, and lore, were a few pictures of Charlie with his beloved uncles. In the very center, was a picture of Charlie, on his 7th birthday, his Uncle Gideon standing just beside him and a real Welsh Green dragon flying in the sky behind them. Above it, several translations of his favorite book, Goodnight Dragons, sat. The original sat, on his nightstand, where it always was when he was home, but his latest copy was in his hands, as he quietly read to the young toddler currently nestled in his chest next to his infant sister.

“Maybe all a dragon needs is a cuddle. Maybe all a dragon needs is one sweet dream.” 

Closing the book softly, Charlie gazed down at the two beautiful children in his arms. Marveling at the extraordinary life he had led, his good fortune to have fallen in love with an angel while continuing to live and work among the beasts that had been apart of his life for as long as he remembered. Rising gently, Charlie slipped his son Gideon into the small bed that the three had occupied moments ago, before tenderly setting his daughter Fabian into her crib a few feet away. Turning on the nightlight that cast stars along the ceiling, Charlie switched off the light and crossed to the door. Casting his eyes about the room once more, he thanked Merlin for blessing him so. The final words of his beloved book, whispered lovingly into the darkness before he closed the door.

“Goodnight, dragons.”


End file.
